Witness to Disaster

Natural and man-made catastrophes retold by eyewitnesses and dramatic reconstructions.

Retrace some of NZ's darkest days to reveal the stories, secrets and lessons learnt from our most famous disasters. 

Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters of the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incidental by analyzing the causes and circumstances that ultimately effected the disaster. The program uses re-enactments, interviews, testimonies, and CGI to analyze the sequence of events second-by-second for the audience. Narrators for the show are Ashton Smith, Richard Vaughan and Peter Guinness.

A century after the Great Kanto Earthquake, previously unknown details have been extracted from newly 8K remastered and colorized footage, vividly demonstrating how Tokyo citizens faced the disaster.

HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.

Zero Hour dramatizes the hour leading up to some of the most memorable historical events as they unfold minute by minute. Using a real-time clock and a split screen to follow key players, the series reveals the compelling and exciting minutes leading up to events that changed the world.

123 people died when the Norwegian semi-submersible housing platform Alexander L. Kielland capsized in the North Sea in 1980. Survivors and relatives of the deceased still have many questions. What really happened?

Ride along with the NTSB and its inter-agency partners as they work together towards determining the probable cause of aircraft accidents. These NTSB investigations provide a window into the integral role of air travel in Alaskan life, while raising awareness that might prevent future accidents.

What Happened Next?

Historic events that forever transformed the United States.

Lac-Mégantic investigates one of the worst oil train tragedies in history: a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence.

For a thousand years, the Vikings have made quite a name and reputation for themselves as the strongest families with a thirst for violence. Thorfinn, the son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors, spends his boyhood in a battlefield enhancing his skills in his adventure to redeem his most-desired revenge after his father was murdered.

In the year 2063, eight high school students and a kid are flown out to Planet Camp, tasked with surviving on their own for a few days. But shortly after arriving, an ominous glowing orb warps them to an unknown quadrant of space, nearly 5,012 light years away. Now, the only way back home is a slow, dangerous trek across the universe—a journey that’ll test them in ways Planet Camp never could.

The "loosely science-fiction adventure" is set in the summer sometime in the 21st century. Tokyo's Shinjuku ward has become a wasteland, void of all humans due to an unexplained catastrophe. What remains are these strange creatures such as "Donyatsu," the half-cat, half-doughnut hybrid, and "Begaru," a feline bagel composite.

The TLT is a covert international anti-monster unit established secretly to combat Space Beasts, mysterious monsters that are out to attack humans in the year 2009. One of the TLT's new recruits, Kazuki Komon, is attacked by one of them prior to reporting for duty. However, he is saved by a silver giant that he names "Ultraman". What no one knows is that the silver giant is an Ultraman — to be precise, Ultraman Nexus, ready to fight the Space Beasts to save the planet Earth.

Yurie is just an ordinary middle school girl in the 1980's - until overnight she finds out that she is a Kami, or God, in the Shinto sense. When Yurie announces this fact to her best friend Mitsue, their classmate Mitsuri takes advantage of Yurie's new divinity to revitalize her family's dying shrine. Yurie is nicknamed Kamichu and now must go on with her godly duties while going to school and winning the heart of her crush, Kenji, while Mitsuri tries to replace her old shrine god Yashima with her.

In 1985 Mexico City, a catastrophic earthquake buries thousands. A doctor with a dark past, a journalist chasing fame, and a family in distress risk their lives in rescue attempts. Their efforts become chances to change their own lives.

One day, New York City as we know it vanished overnight into a mysterious fog. Now known as Hellsalem's Lot, it has become a place where another world beyond imagining is connected to our reality. The balance within this new world is protected by a secret society known as Libra. Leo, a journalist and photographer who arrives in the city, is unexpectedly recruited to join their ranks.

An earthquake directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area is said to occur with a 70% probability within 30 years. Staged in a news center of a TV station where a huge amount of damage information and images are gathered.

Fear, survival, instinct. Thrown into a foreign land with nothing but hazy memories and the knowledge of their name, they can feel only these three emotions resonating deep within their souls. A group of strangers is given no other choice than to accept the only paying job in this game-like world—the role of a soldier in the Reserve Army—and eliminate anything that threatens the peace in their new world, Grimgar. When all of the stronger candidates join together, those left behind must create a party together to survive: Manato, a charismatic leader and priest; Haruhiro, a nervous thief; Yume, a cheerful hunter; Shihoru, a shy mage; Mogzo, a kind warrior; and Ranta, a rowdy dark knight. Despite its resemblance to one, this is no game—there are no redos or respawns; it is kill or be killed. It is now up to this ragtag group of unlikely fighters to survive together in a world where life and death are separated only by a fine line.